Can’t decide whether Google Android or Windows 7 make for a better touchscreen experience on a tablet PC? Why not release two tablets, one with each operating system and see what happens. That appears to be the approach Toshiba is taking.
Reuters reports that Toshiba will bring a dual screen tablet to market running Windows 7.
There will also be a smaller, presumably cheaper model powered by Google Android.
Toshiba is taking a very Apple-like approach to these tablets, claiming that both are built for consuming media rather than creating it. if that’s the case, I have to say, Android probably makes a lot more sense. It’s cheaper, built from the ground up for touch input, and can run on low power ARM-based processors. Adobe and Google are also working to bring Flash support to Android — something which won’t work on the iPad.
Update: It looks like that Windows 7 tablet might actually be a Windows CEÂ tablet. Digitimes reports that both of Toshiba’s upcoming tablets will have NVIDIA’s latest Tegra chipset, which use ARM-based processors. In other words, they can run Windows CE, but not Windows 7. But I’m taking all of these rumors with a few grains of salt for now.
On the other hand, Windows 7 is a more powerful OS and offers the possibility of running full Windows apps including Office, Photoshop, or other apps — which might not sound that useful if you’re using an onscreen keyboard and your fingertips. Bu I’m guessing the Windows 7 tablet will have a few USB ports for peripherals, meaning you can use it to read the morning paper over a cup of coffee at the dining room tablet, and then take it to the office and plug in a mouse and keyboard to get some work done.
It’s also possible that the dual screen model will let you prop up the tablet like a laptop and use one screen as a virtual, on-screen keyboard. You know, sort of like that prototype MSI was showing off at CES earlier this year.
Right now we don’t know very much about either tablet, so we’ll just have to guess… what features would you like to see from Toshiba’s new Windows 7 and Android tablets?
I’m guessing the Android version will also have USB ports and such. Most embedded ARM chips have that sort of thing on the die these days. It is just Apple that does stupid things like leaving off USB support or memory slots.